The Rancho Murieta Vandals are back!!

Well, they’re baaack! Who? The darling little teenage vandals in Rancho Murieta!!! I’m assuming they’re teenagers because nobody else would be that inconsiderate, naïve, ignorant or stupid, unless of course, it was their parents!! They appeared to be in a golf cart last night because there were tracks through lawns, flower beds, broken sprinkler heads and destruction that only someone who hadn’t paid for anything would think was funny! They hit Ventana Drive and Trinidad around 2:00am Saturday morning! Parents, do you know where your kids were early Saturday morning, 7/3 at around 2:00am? Or maybe you’re just so preoccupied with yourselves that you don’t care! Why did some of these people have kids anyway if their not going to be parents? Disgusting!

Flags were torn out of the grass of patriots celebrating the 4th! These idiots don’t appreciate what the American flag stands for! At one house, these little brats thought it was real cool to go to the electrical circuit breaker box and turn off all the breakers! What fun! Parents, you’ve done a great job teaching your kids the difference between right and wrong! These precious little vandals don’t realize that they could destroy several hundred dollars worth of food if the residents were gone for a weekend or longer! What if they had a large fish aquarium? Several fish would be dead because of the pumps being turned off! What about fire alarms being inoperable, security systems shut down with no electricity! What about phones that don’t work in case of an emergency? These kids don’t think! If you parents don’t pay attention and teach your kids now, you’ll pay later because it isn’t going to get any better! My dad always told me that, “If you don’t own it, don’t touch it!” We need a lot more of that kind of thinking around here and in the rest of this country! Don’t forget, THEY’RE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!

I realize that 95% of the kids are great kids and respect people and their property! But, it’s the other 5 % that gives everybody a bad name! These kids and their parents are the cause of these problems. Parents wake up and pay attention to your kids!

Security knows who these kids are but they need to catch them. They confront the parents but, they’re in denial! They think their kids are being picked on and would never do anything wrong! These parents don’t give a damn about their kids or they’d do something about these problems. Why are they letting their kids run around at 2:00am in the first place? The last I heard, there is a 10:00pm curfew! Parents, do you know where your children are???????

I agree with everything you've said. I guess every generation has the same issues with youth. It seems to depend on how or if the adults handle the situation that will create a great citizen from every teen generation.

How about it parents? It's normal for kids to get into trouble. What is not acceptable is to deny that your child is somehow above being "a normal teen". Now how about it parents. Your neighbors will applaud you for taking responsibility and showing your children what it means to take responsibility. You will become the hero of the neighborhood by showing some backbone in your parenting. If you shy away from taking responsibility you can bet your sweet....bippy that they too will become you someday. Be someone that they might hate for now, but be very proud of later! "Be" the parent.

We had our electric box shut down two weeks ago. We were home. We usually have a lock on the box due to the same actions of a couple of years ago and got lazy. Good reminder to lock doors, close garages and place the padlock back on things you wish to keep someone away from. Locks keep honest people honest.

As far as golf carts and kids go, be happy it was not someones' car they took for a ride. That's what my darling 14 year old daughter did back in her day! Geeeze. Talk about a long summer of being grounded! It may have been worse for me than her. Thank God she's become a great 32 year old daughter. They do grow up quite nicely. It's just the teen years that you don't think you'll ever get past!

As a community we need to stop thinking of this destructive behavior as mere child pranks. It is property destruction, where some homeowner has to spend good money to replace what is damaged or destroyed. And it is dangerous. Turning off power to a residence could have serious consequences. Freezers and Fridges fail, alarm and fire systems can fail, pool equipment fails. What if a Senior has an oxygen generator or medical equipment going that they depend on? Think of the mess if the resident is gone for the week.

Is it that uncool to confirm where your children are at? Years ago we used to call other parents to confirm that our kids were where they were supposed to be. Even if you don't care what your kids are destroying, at least be concerned for their safety. And for the safety of your neighbors.

There are so many fantastic kids in our community. Most all would see this type of behavior as uncalled for. I hope as a community we realize that we need to provide for the changing demographics in our community. Its great for kids to have something to do. On the other hand it is not the community's responsibility to clean up after, or tolerate the actions of a small few whose parents either don't have a clue or don't care to manage their kids. As a community we should adopt a zero tolerance policy on this destructive behavior, even if it happens infrequently. Like graffiti, if left unabated, it only grows.